The present disclosure relates to a bed having a retractable side barrier, and more particularly to a patient's bed having at least one of its longitudinal edges equipped with such a barrier that is suitable for being placed in a position chosen from among a plurality of possible predetermined positions. The present disclosure further relates to an improvement facilitating manipulation and making it possible, in particular, to change the position of the barrier using only one hand, if desired.
A bed having a retractable side barrier is known that is of the type having at least one barrier element associated with a pivotally mounted deformable-parallelogram mechanism that is hinged to a frame of the bed. The term “frame” is used to mean all of the stationary or angularly positionable elements that support the mattress. Such a mechanism comprises two parallel arms, each of which is provided with a hinge for hinging it to said frame and with a hinge for hinging it to the barrier element, and a deployment bar hinged between the two arms. The purpose of the deployment bar that “closes” the parallelogram is to make the movement of the system more reliable by avoiding jamming.
Such a barrier element further comprises a locking system that makes use of the deployment bar. More particularly, a cam profile is integral with said deployment bar and the locking system co-operates with said cam profile so as to define a plurality of stable predetermined positions for the barrier element. Conventionally, provision is made for a high position in which the barrier element is raised to the maximum extent on the side of the bed so as to prevent the patient from falling out, and for a low position in which the barrier element is lowered to the same level as the lying surface. The low position is taken up when treatment or care is to be administered to the patient, or when it is desired to transfer the patient.
The known locking system is complex and, in particular, requires two hands to be used in order to operate the barrier, one hand being necessary to lock or to unlock the mechanism, and the other hand being necessary to control the upward or downward movement of the barrier.